A Before and After School Program of the Northern Middlesex Y

The monthly themes for the month of June are Splash into Summer and Summer Olympics. Our monthly independent learning centers have have a summertime makeover for the last weeks of school.

Our Sorting Station, with it’s famous yellow sorting wheel, is now home to a variety of seashells of various sizes, shapes, and colors. At this center, we have provided a famous TONGUE TWISTER: “She sells seashells by the seashore.” While children are attempting to say this silly phrase five times fast, they can categorize the lovely shells by whichever characteristic they choose.

The Magnificent Math Center boasts a piece of Kids’ Korner at Macdonough School history; a FISHY math problem that was created and drawn by Chaelyn and Jen B. in 2007. Children are still baffled by our tricky ocean-themed mathematics. First, we see if you can accurately name all of the fishy friends. Can you then find the hidden names of the poster’s creators in the colorful fish?

The Super Science Center is sporting some serious sea specimens. At this center, children can use a MAGNIFYING GLASS to inspect some actual sea life that has been preserved in plastic casts. A crab! A sea horse! A shrimp! A starfish!….Sorry, a Sea Star. Children can inspect them top and bottom, up close and personal.

Also at the Super Science Center is a mini-lesson on sea turtles, with some friends made of stuffing.

Also at the Super Science Center is a lesson in distinguishing what makes a fish. A poster that states the very definition of what makes a creature a fish is provided, along with a fish model and magnifying glass for up close inspection. Also at this center is an additional board which teaches parts of a fish, like gills, fins, scales, and more.

Our World Studies Center (sometimes our multicultural center) is focused on geography this month, namely our world’s bodies of water. The “WHAT A WATER-FULL WORLD” center has two placemat maps of our Earth and more magnifying glasses so children can seek out the names and locations of oceans, seas, bays, canals, and other bodies of water and waterways on our planet.

A Pop-Corn Reading Center features five copies of the same non-fiction science text, “Water Habitats” so children can learn along with a friend.

This month’s Creation Station is: “BIG FISH: A Whale of a Tale”….Children are encouraged to look at the colorful pictures depicting sea life and in turn tell a tall-tale of the biggest creature they ever caught from the sea (and include a picture).

Book Nook: Ocean Reading Center- As usual, our Themed Reading Center boasts a large variety of books (non-fiction and fiction) about our monthly theme. Not surprisingly, the children’s favorite book in this lot is “Walter the Farting Dog Goes on a Cruise.”

These are the final learning centers of the 2013-2014 School Year. We look forward to providing the children with more Independent Learning Centers in the upcoming school year.

Thank you to Mrs. Davis, receptionist at Pieper Memorial Veterinary Center for coordinating two special field trips for some lucky KKatMac children. On June 5th, five children from 2nd and 3rd grade visited. On June 12th, six children from 3rd-5th enjoyed a trip. We were able to visit several parts of the facility, including the physical therapy room and the cat boarding area. We were also able to visit the treatment areas and x-ray rooms in both the emergency side of the hospital and the private practice. Here are some pictures from our trips! For more pictures, visit our FACEBOOK page (https://www.facebook.com/KidsKornerMac), where you can see all of the photos from these two trips.

Seeing as we had a variety of academic enrichment centers and “not enough time to do everything at the Family Night” (actual Kid quote), we recycled our enrichment centers for the remainder of April and the first two weeks of May.

The Creation Station has been transformed into a Creation Corner with three Artsy Activities. The first is the Horned Owl Craft using toilet paper tubs and designed paper.

The second addition to the Creation Corner is this Artsy Activity, Owl Songs and Rhymes, complete with owl finger-puppets for dramatic play.

The third Artsy Activity in the Creation Corner is an Owl Origami Station. Provided with the directions are various colors of origami paper squares.

The Super Science Center features several eye-spy books and an Owl Eyes-Spy Game.

The children can NEST-le up with an owl book in our Book Nook and complete an owl book report or color an owl bookmark.

Marvellous Math boasts dice games where you can create an owl or color an owl based on the probability of dice throws.

This month’s Sorting Station also has a Science theme. The bone charts from our OWL PUKE: Owl Pellet Dissection Activity have been cut. Children have to decipher what bones belong to which animal and what part of the body they come from.

The themes for May are Latino Americans and Dinosaurs/Archaeology. New enrichment centers to match these themes are coming soon!

Twelve KKatMac “youngers” have been lucky to receive free swim lessons at the Middlesex YMCA, thanks to generous grant funding . This group’s last lesson is at the end of May. A group of KKatMac’s “olders” will get to go in June.

Can you name all of the KKatMac Staff in this BLAST FROM THE PAST photo? The first KKatMac-er to comment with the names of all of the staff in this picture will receive a FABULOUS prize! Kids’ Korner staff are exempt from this contest! haha